CC User

32 Bit Windows Program that allows "point and click" setting of node parameters. Runs under WinXP/2000 and later versions of Windows.

Has Telnet, DDE, and RS-232 outputs for logging and contest programs. Unlimited number of telnet connections.

Can insert States and Provinces into feed to contest programs to aid in multiplier determination.

Separates data from the cluster. DX spots, WWV, Announces, Mail, filtering etc all have their own tabs on the display.

For DX Spots, each band has its own color.

Removes bad DX Spots. (blank or duplicate)

Can be set to reject DX spots by spotter, DX call or by comments.

Displays bearing and distance to DX.

As well as the usual data in a dx spot, the following data can also be shown. Spotter's node, Spotters country, DX Country's regular prefix, DX Country name, spotter and DX stations CQ/ITU zones, grid squares, states/provinces.

Ports

Can be used as a "front end" for various logging programs. Pre-filters spots. Will auto reconnect to the node
if the connection drops.

With the setup shown, the program is waiting for incoming connections from logging programs on port 7300.
If the logging program is running in the same machine, use the local telnet loopback port (127.0.0.1 :7300).
If the logging program is in a different machine, telnet to this machines IP address at port 7300.
The number of logging program connections is unlimited.
To enable or disable this feature, you need to go to "Configuration>Ports/Logging Program>Logging Program Connection>Telnet".

Show LoTW. Put a "+" next to DX calls when the DX is a user of ARRL LoTW. Shows number of LoTW calls in the local database.

Auto Open Talk Window - Opens talk window if a talk messages arrives.

Auto Talk on Top - Opens talk window on top of other applications.
Be very careful with this one.
If you are running a contest program at the same time, it will lose focus
and may stop what it is doing. If it is sending CW, it may simply stop!

Auto Reconnect - Automatically reconnect if the link fails.

Auto Show/Filters - Show filters when first connected.

Auto Start - Connect to node as soon as program starts.

Auto Get Missed Spots - Get the spots that you missed when you were not connected.

Debug Mode. Used to find problems with the program.

Not only can you reconnect if you get dropped, but you can also automatically pull in all the DX spots you missed.

Enable Linking

Allows a "Secondary" Cluster connection to supply DX spots to the "Primary" instance of the program.

Allows logging/contest program to receive uninterrupted flow of spots.

Select "Secondary" Cluster. This cluster can be any CC Cluster or an AR Cluster that has AR17 enabled.

Change the SSID of your call by "Configuration>User Info>Callsign".
If you chose an SSID of 16 or higher, it will treat this new call as a completely different user.
This even allows 2 connections to the same cluster with different filtering setups.

Connect to "Secondary" Cluster.

DX spots from both clusters will show on the primary display. The secondary spots will show the secondary cluster's callsign enclosed in brackets at the end of the spot.

Tab 1 - Settings

In this example the input ("raw") window shows 2 lines. To change the size of this window, click on the "up" or "down" arrows just above this window's scroll bar.

To maximize the raw window, click on the "square" to the left of these buttons.

You MUST set the countries of "K" and/or "VE" to PASS before selecting states and/or provinces!

This replaces the "DX Band Mode" filter settings. The DXBM filter uses FREQUENCY to determine mode.
When the DXBM is set to "pass" 40-CW, it really is set to pass the frequencies
of 7000-7040. CW on 7050 is REJECTED. RTTY or SSB on 7035 is accepted. This filter shows you exactly what frequencies are used when
you are setting reject or pass bands. The frequencies given are the default of AR Cluster. These are what
are used by the VE7CC node. Other node sysops may have changed these default values. If in doubt, contact the sysop for the
frequencies used by his node. These frequencies ranges are fixed and cannot be changed by users.

AR Cluster needs an additional setup. The following refers to AR Cluster only.

A "SH/DX/100" will give you the last 100 spots.
Unfortunately it gives you spots for ANY frequency.
The "Missed Spots" filter tells the cluster what frequencies you want to see.
You can edit these frequency ranges to get only the ones you want.
Unfortunately when you specify frequencies,
you will get spots from ALL spotters unless you also specify countries.
If you select "Origin Cty", you will restrict the spots to the countries in your Origin Cty filter.
If you select "Call", you will only see spots for the call selected.

These filter settings are used when you first connect to the
node if you have "Enabled" checked or when you press "Get Spots ALL" in the
DX display tab.

There is a limitation on the length of this command. If it is too long, an error will be generated by the node.
To get around this, if possible, two or more bands are combined into one.
For instance if you are passing 1800-2000 and 3500-4000, then these will be sent to the node as
one group (1800-4000). If you change the 2000 to 1995, then it will be sent to the node
in two groups (1800-1995 and 3500-4000).

Tab 5 - Locals

Users per Port

The first 3 columns are 3 AGW radio ports, then telnet users, and finally node connections.

You will see this display if using DX Spider or if ARC and you have "Sysop" privileges. Otherwise, you see the display directly below.

Classic

Click on any call and see "User Information".

Shift + click on any call and you will go to www.qrz.com for their info.

Ctrl + click on any VE call and you will go to www.rac.ca for their info.

Alt + click on any call and it will be entered as the destination of a talk message.
Better than "conference mode". You can enter several calls.
The same talk message goes to all of them. In the example shown, W0DJC, N5IN-11, and K0SR
will all receive the same message. Use the "up" and "down" arrows located in the top right corner
to resize the talk window.

Command Buttons

Talk - Opens the "Talk" area.

Network - Shows configuration of the system, including passive nodes.

ALL - Shows all the nodes and users.

Locals - Shows local users. Usually just the local node, but can include several nodes as shown.

User Information

Tab 6 - Dx

DX Spots

Spots are separated by band. The first column of numbers to the right of the bands are the number of
spots that have not yet been viewed. The second column of numbers is the total number of spots
per band. The 2 spots on 40 meters, below the line of "stars" are spots that are being viewed for the first time.

Tab 7 - WWV

Tab 8 - Login Msg

Hypertext links are clickable.

Tab 9 - Ann

Announce

Hypertext links are clickable.

Tab 10 - Wx

Weather

Tab 11 - Mail

Directory

Clicking on a mail message will bring it up in a window like the one below.

Mail Receive

Hypertext links are clickable.

Test the Software

Which node should you connect to? Which nodes are faster? Are you missing DX by connecting
to a certain node? Does the "Get Missed Spots" really work? If you want the answers, you might want to do these tests.

Start up CC User. Make sure you do not have "Configuration>Ports>Local Network>Telnet"
enabled. Connect to a node of your choice. Start up another copy of CC User.
Connect to another node of your choice but first change the SSID of your call in "Configuration>Local Info>"
if the nodes can "see" each other.
Make sure the filters are set identically. You probably want to turn them completely off for this test.
You can start up as many copies as you want. Now overlap the windows as shown and watch the spots.
If they are different you will soon see. Some nodes have only USA/VE or NA West Coast spots available,
but the majority of them have world wide spots available. Note the relative times of arrival of the spots.

Now an additional test. Make sure you have "Configuration>Get Missed Spots" checked for all the connections.
Disconnect any link, either by sending a "b" on the bottom line, or by pressing the "Disconnect"
button at the top of the screen. If you have "Configuration>Auto Reconnect" checked, the ones disconnected by sending
a "b" will reconnect in a minute or so. If you don't have the auto reconnect enabled you will have to
manually connect by pressing the "Connect" button at the top of the screen. Now see if you really get the missed spots.

Now another test. Click the "Update" tab. Make sure you have "Keep Alives in Minutes" set to anything
other than 0, which will disable them. I would suggest a setting of 5 minutes and "Rx". Press apply and
go back to the DX display. Now unplug the Internet connection and go away for a while.
Come back and plug it back in. If everything is working, you should get all the additional
spots that went out while you were unplugged. (well the last 100 anyway)

Hopefully these tests will answer your questions, and help you to decide what to do.

What did I find out? In all the testing I have done, all the nodes have all the spots.
All the spots arrive within a second or two most of the time. Occasionally one will take slightly longer.
Which node is first with the spot varies from spot to spot. Which node is last varies from spot to spot.
Two spots arriving at almost the same time may arrive in different order from different nodes.

The displays shown are using the new AR17 format with different bands set to different colors.

2.384 Prompts user to download latest country file which includes PJ4 and PJ5.

2.383 Improves login speed.

2.382 Improves login speed.

2.381 Adds Skimmer to Selection Menu.

2.380 Allows selection of font for Ann, WWV, WX, Login, and Mail Tabs. Go to "Configuration>Colors/Fonts".
Adds "IP Address" to list of items that can be displayed in the DX Tab.

2.379 Allows saving of spotter IP addresses for later analysis. On DX tab, at the bottom, click "Log" and follow the setup instructions.

2.378 Prevents loss of all data in the user configuration file which may happen when updating the program.
Due to a bug introduced in the last revision you may have trouble installing
updates. If you do, please install updates by going to
"Settings>Updater" and press "Test". Then follow
the update instructions.

2.377 Allows connection to Skimmer. Fixes a problem where "bye" or "quit" from logging program was causing a disconnect between the user program and the DX Cluster.

For CC Clusters only, adds two new user buttons. These turn off or on beacon and self spots. These buttons are located on the "Settings Tab" between "Ask Cluster" and "Tell Cluster".

Fixes a problem with "FS" stations showing as "FJ".

Fixes a problem when updating the dx cluster list.

2.360 Adds "FS" to the country list. Adds "node type" to the telnet selection form.

2.359 Fixes a problem where WWV data was not being sent on to a connected logging program.

2.358 Disables the node update form unless "Configuration>Cluster(telnet)" is selected.

2.357 Adds country name to Alarm Setup form. The country name is displayed for entries beginning with "*", which is means spots for anyone in the country specified by the standard country prefix which follows the "*".

2.298 Attempted fix for problems with some regional settings and dx spots.

2.297

Sorting by Zones in DX Display now places zones 1-9 at the top.

Escaped characters are all converted back to their proper characters.

Error.log file now contains all error messages.

Echoing back data to the cluster from logging or contest programs is detected and blocked.

2.296 Now gives error message if WinXP won't let user write files to hard drive, which prevents program from working.

2.295 Allows user to opt out of using downloader program.

2.294 Added support for downloader program This program greatly improves downloading of updates for CC User.

2.293 Fixed a bug introduced in last version that stops display of dx spots for some filter settings.

2.292 The "Set>Correct Filtering Errors" has been disabled for DX Spider connections.

2.291

Removed reference to WOTA data in User Info form. This data is only needed if using WOTA.

Fixed problem where "Close Program Immediately" was not being saved.

2.290 Fixed problem where the data from the Wx tab was always being sent to contesting/logging program.

2.289 Fixed problem with dx dupe checking where the time was ignored.

2.288 Improved Dueling connection detector for users trying to run a contest or logging program with the same call as the CC User program. NB: Different connections require different "SSIDs".

2.287 Fixed bug that caused an incorrect "Update Program" message.

2.286 When set to reject DX Spots for "K", all US counties will also be rejected. US counties are defined as calls ending in "/xxxx" where xxxx is 3 or 4 letters with no number.

2.285 Fixed bug that made red "Update LoTW" button appear when user does not have "Show LoTW" selected.

2.284 Fixed problem with version 2.283 that stopped updates.

2.283 Changed time interval to one hour for update checks.

2.282 Added auto checking for updates to program.

2.281 Added support for qrz.com premium service.

2.280

Fixes problem when using "sysop" display in DX Spider, that the display
would switch to non sysop display mode.

Fixes problem where the user callsign would sometimes be set to "-16"
instead of a real callsign.

Removes a couple of unused selection buttons from the DX Tab when in
the classic display mode.

Fixes problem where the home node was updated to a blank homenode when
none was set by the user in the "User Info".

2.279 Fixes problem where the duping quit working when sorting by frequency
when using the "expanded" display format

2.278 Fixed problem where outgoing announcements were being converted to upper case.

2.277

Fixes problem where fractional font sizes cause the DX Selection boxes
to appear in the wrong places. This fix may require users who are
using non standard twips per pixel to readjust their screens slightly.

Fixed problem where DX Spider users where not being shown the correct
settings of their filters at the node.

Changed display of LoTW lookup from a floating form to being fixed in
the bottom right hand corner of the DX Tab. Select this box by "Set>LoTW Checker".

2.175 Fixed position of some of the scroll buttons that accidentally moved in last revision.

2.174 Slight change in height of main window for WinXp compatibility.

2.173 Chat button's width changes to allow long chat names.

2.172 Fixed bug that allowed announces through to logging program when announces not checked.

2.171 Fixed bug in chat when more than one line of Groups returned.

2.170 Chat form added for DX Spider.

2.169 WWV dupes fixed.

2.168 Fixed incorrect WWV number on Tab.

2.167 Settings now correctly displays "set/login" state.

2.166 Fixed "auto get missed" which I also broke.

2.165 Fixed "duelling connections" which I broke in previous version.

2.164 Filtering can now be done by VE provinces (DX Spider). Login script more compatible with older Spider software.

2.163 Various Changes.

Changed font for Solar Tags.

Changed colors for Solar Tags.

Changed screen position for Solar Tags.

Improved column alignment for DX Display.

Comments display length now unlimited in DX Spots when using Expanded display mode.

Improved Mail Rx form. Now immediately displays when reading mail.

Changed user info window to display more more connected nodes for DX Spider.

2.162 More improvements to tags.

2.161 Improved SA and GMF tags.

2.160 SA and GMF tags added to DX Spots Tab.

2.159 Stop rejected announces or dx spots from being sent to logging program.

2.158 Fixed bug when looking up local sunrise/sunset times in DX Spider.

2.157 Fix for rejecting announcements.

2.156 Fix of WCY display.

2.155 New full version.

2.154 Update for local users.

2.153 Updated for compatibility with latest DX Spider version.

2.152 Various Changes.

Updated Announce, WWV, and WCY formats.

Updated prompt for DX Spider.

Added Reject announcements by destination.

Added "sysop" type display for DX Spider cluster users.

2.151 Fixed glitch in detecting node calls.

2.150 Fixed a couple of problems due to language not being English in Spider.

2.149 Fixed sh/sun problem.

2.148 A few minor glitches in DX Display cleared up.

2.147 Added some backward compatibility for older Spider software.

2.146 Added Canadian provinces to filtering for DX Spider.

2.145 Fixed bug in sending DX Spots.

2.144 Fixed bug that crashes program when scrolling too far back in entry line at bottom of screen.
Fixed bug that converted "." to "," when attempting to send dx spots when using non English setting for local.

2.143 Completely new full version created. See above. Contains ALL necessary files.

2.080 Allows "black" for background in DX Window. Reverses order of local users in "Local Logins>Time".
Expands Locals screen to always use available space in sysop mode. Reformatted
top of display slightly.
Attempt to fix problem caused by multiple mouse clicks when starting.

2.079 Fixed bug in User Info that crashes program when location invalid.

2.078 Added "Do you really want to end program?" to end program button.

2.077 Added "enter" sends DX spot.

2.076 Fixed bug where main form doesn't always remember last screen position on restart.